Mumbai, March 20 -- The People's Bank of China left its benchmark loan prime rate unchanged on Thursday, in line with market expectations as Beijing looks to dole out more fiscal measures, instead of monetary easing, to support economic growth.
The PBOC left its one-year LPR at 3.6%, while the five-year LPR, which is used to set mortgage rates, was left at 3.1%. Both rates were at record lows, following a slew of cuts over the past three years.
The LPR is determined by the PBOC based on considerations from 18 designated commercial banks, and is used as a benchmark for lending rates in the country.
But the PBOC now has limited headroom to further cut the LPR, especially given that its monetary easing measures have so far provided only fle...